Christmas day should be a time of love, brightness and warmth.
But for those who are ill, financially vulnerable and struggling to feed their families, or too frail to leave their homes or hospital beds, it can be very difficult indeed.
That’s why advisers across the country have been working hard behind the scenes to raise money for those in need this Christmas.
For example, Kathryn and Alan Knowles have been raising money for a children's charity this year.
The Knowles are founders and leaders of Cura, an insurance company set up to ‘insure the uninsurable’.
Cura has taken on the daring endeavour of helping find insurance for those whose illness, disability or mental health condition might ordinarily make it nigh-on impossible to find insurance cover, but Cura employees also have a heart of gold when it comes to charitable giving.
Last year Kathryn and Alan created a reverse Advent calendar, collecting hundreds of charitable donations to give to homelessness charity Rainbow Trust Scarborough each day of Advent.
This Christmas, Cura is collecting toys to give to Dunelm’s Delivering Joy to Children present appeal. In this way they hope to help families who are struggling this Christmas to make it a joyful occasion.
Kathryn is clear about why she and Alan give. They have a lot of fun - for example, they recently took part in a local Strictly Come Dancing competition to raise funds for St Catherine’s Hospice.
But the founding principle behind all they do is more weighty. “It has always been something that we feel is a moral duty to help others that are not as fortunate as ourselves” says Kathryn.
'If it means something to you, we will do that'
Steve Nelson is insight director at financial services consultancy the Lang Cat. His company has given a total of £7,000 worth of donations to good causes this year.
Each month, the company award £250 to each of two winners of their Adviser Research Panel prize draw, to give to a charity of each winner’s choosing.
Around Christmas they give out their biggest award, £1,500, and last year the winner kindly gave to a local Mountain Rescue charity.
Nelson bubbles over with enthusiasm about his company’s generous spirit, and how this has been grabbed by the advice panel contributors, to help local causes close to their hearts.
He says the Lang Cat, which has a reputation in the financial services industry for creativity, aims to apply some of this innovative thinking to its charitable endeavours.
Nelson explains: “What we have tried to do is change the model of doing some research and enter a prize draw, and you win an ipad or a voucher.
